The Eternal Flame
by TreyTheGreatAndPowerful
Summary: Hayden, a Greek demigod, gets strange information about his Roman brother, Harley. Strangely, the younger Roman went missing, along with other demigods. Hayden, with his friends Erin and Sonic Boom, travel to Camp Jupiter. What happens, however, when they run into Nico and a boy named Josh? When things are more dangerous than they seem; are they only pawns for a bigger battle?
1. Capture Le Flag

**DISCLAIMER: Me no own Percy Jackson. Me wishes I did, but me clearly does not. Me only own copyright to Hayden, Erin, and all me made-up characters.**

**Hayden: That was a really stupid way to do a disclaimer.**

**Me: Me don't care. Me awesome.**

**Hayden: You weird. Me awesome.**

**Me: I CREATED you. Therefore, me awesome.**

**Hayden: You got a point there, anonymous author with a really strange pen name.**

**Me: My pen name is AMAZING, for your information.**

**Hayden: AH HA! So you can talk like a normal human being!**

**Me: Me have no idea what you are talking about.**

**Hayden: And you call yourself normal.**

**Me: Anywho, enjoy the story!**

Hayden was hot. Of course, everyone already knew that. He was, after all, on fire.

"AHH! LEO, LEO, PUT IT OUT!" Hayden yelled as manly as he could, which is really hard when you're running around and trying to put out the flames on your butt. He leaped over logs and swatted his bottom, completely forgetting the stop, drop, and roll drill. Honestly, it's hard to think of technical things when fearing for your life.

"Hayden! STAND STILL!" Leo howled as he barreled in Hayden's direction. "I can't put out your butt flames if you just _run away_!"

It took all of his manly pride to stop running and control the urge to scream like a little girl. Leo, and just about the whole entire camp, raced over to him. The flame boy, with an irritating grin, stopped near Hayden and pushed on the taller boy's shoulders. Hayden bent his knees and sat on the ground. The flames went out.

"Seriously? That's all I had to do?" Hayden complained. He had looked like an idiot when Leo accidentally set his bottom on fire during Capture the Flag. A stray fireball, and Hayden was suddenly running around swatting his back end like a maniac.

"That wouldn't have been funny if I told you to sit down." Leo said with a silly grin. Hayden, being the idiot he is, grinned along with the pyromaniac. He would have done the same thing, except he didn't have magic flame powers like Mr. McShizzle over there.

Leo held his hand out, and Hayden gratefully used it to heave himself off the dirty ground.

"Yo, McShizzle, who won while I unnecessarily ran around like a chicken without a head?"

"That saying sounds so stupid with a British accent."

"One, it's an English accent. I'm from London, Great Britain just refers to the UK."

Leo rolled his eyes and swatted Hayden's shoulder. He stared at Leo.

"Okay, okay, I know that was weak." Leo said, his hands up in surrender. "Anyway, everyone's been too busy watching you freak about the flaming buttocks. No one's grabbed the flag yet."

Hayden, however, spotted the bright red flag at the edge of the crowd. A small, pale hand gripped it protectively, and he saw the lithe body of his cousin, Erin, hold the flag for the whole camp to see.

"Apollo, Hermes, Ares, Hecate, and Dionysus win!" Chiron announced from one of his many vantage points. The clip clop of the centaurs hooves echoed through the trees, and the creature in question appeared.

"Campers, go back to your cabins. The game is over."

It had ended as fast as it had started. With a groan, Hayden lugged himself all the way to the Apollo cabin. Their only prize was no kitchen duty until the next game and itchy laurel wreaths. Will Solace, Hayden's cabin counselor, walked over to him and slung an arm around his shoulders.

"Way to humiliate yourself again." The counselor commented. Hayden grinned and cocked his head to the side.

"Awe, you're welcome, mate! Anything for a good chap like you, Will Solace." Hayden smirked and swatted Will on the back. The counselor rolled his eyes and ran ahead to the cabin. Hayden, however, hung back and waited for Erin to come towards him. His little cousin sulked over and stood next to him apprehensively. He, not caring that she was sensitive to physical contact, swung his arm around her shoulders and escorted her to the Hermes cabin. Although she was fourteen, no god had claimed her. Or, she had been claimed before getting to Camp Half-Blood. She had only been at camp for less than a year, after all.

"Good job, Erin. Those are some bloody brilliant stealth skills you got there." He complimented as they walked slowly towards her cabin. He felt her hunched shoulders shrug, and Hayden felt slightly sorry for his younger cousin by two years. He had only met her twice before camp; once when he was six and she was four, the other six years later. She had always been reserved and calm. Although it was a relaxing calm, not the deathly calm that she always carried around with her.

"You know, it might be helpful to tell your teammates where you learned those things." Hayden added nonchalantly. Erin flinched and shook her head. Erin's past was a sad one, he could tell. As far as he knew, she had only told him her story. Although she seemed like the bad guy, Hayden couldn't point a weapon at her. She was too good a person to judge. Everyone did, after all, have their dark moments.

"Well, it was just a suggestion."

"HAYDEN!" A voice yelled from behind. He turned and saw Leo running right for him. Erin glared at the intruder apprehensively, but Hayden didn't let her wiggle out of his casual embrace.

"What is it, Mr. McShizzle?"

Leo, huffing loudly, hunched down on his knees and pulled in deep breaths. "Camp Jupiter-WHEW-Harley-PHEW-missing-OH GODS NEVER RUNNING THAT MUCH AGAIN."

Hayden, slowly piecing together Leo's mumbling, widened his eyes and hastily ran towards the Big House. Chiron was probably waiting there with the messenger. Those four words from Leo felt like a knife in Hayden's heart. His little brother, Harley, a Roman, was missing.

He only hoped Leo had heard wrong.

**I hope you liked! Please like and review! And if you want to see what happens, keep reading! This is only the beginning *evil laugh***


	2. The Lost Boy

**_Hayden_**

Hayden was at the Big House before you could say 'supercalafrajalisticexpialadocious'. He ignored all the decorative objects and barreled towards the porch. There, Mr. D and Chiron sat waiting, Chiron in his wheelchair to conserve space. Hayden could tell that they were waiting for something—him, perhaps?—they shot glances at each other and at Camp Half-Blood's scenery.

Ancient Greek architecture was rampant here. Buildings like the ancient ones, an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, and a circular arena, everything a camper could want. Not to mention the lava wall, pegasus stable, archery range, and other numerous activities that could probably kill you.

Once Mr. D noticed Hayden in the doorway, he straightened up and cleared his throat.

"Hayley Jackson, please, sit down." He grumbled uncomfortably. The god kept fumbling with his fingers and adjusting his legs; something one does when they're about to break some bad news.

Hayden casually walked over and sat on an empty seat by the pinochle table. An unfinished game sat sadly on the wooden surface, and Hayden noticed that Chiron was winning. The centaur chose at that moment to lean towards him.

"Hayden, what has Leo told you?" The centaur-in-a-wheelchair asked seriously. Hayden took a deep breath and met the eyes of his former mythology teacher.

"He said Harley was missing."

The boy under scrutiny hobbled threw the doorway and huffed loudly in exhaustion. He leaned on his knees and blew out puffs of air. The fire boy's curly brown hair was in disarray from running, and sweat trickled down the sides of his head like sideburns.

"I'm afraid that Leo misinformed you." Chiron said quietly. Hayden breathed a sigh of relief.

"I did?" Leo asked, confusion written all over his elfish face. "But you said-"

"I said that I received a letter from the praetor, Reyna, asking if Harley was planning he visit Hayden. The boy disappeared last night."

Hayden wondered how a letter from Camp Jupiter got to Long Island in less than a day.

"That's the same thing!" Leo exclaimed with a huff. Hayden frowned and nodded. It _did_ sound like Harley was missing. He hadn't received any letter or Iris message from Harley in weeks.

"I was hoping, Hayden, that Harley had written to you. Or an Iris message?" Chiron asked hopefully. Hayden could only shake his head. Where had Harley gone? Mr. D had to, of course, state his unwanted opinion: "Did it ever cross your mortal minds that she ran away?" The god said with a superior air. "If this Hannah is the same as Hayley here, than I can see her running off."

"First off, Mr. D, Harley is my little brother." Hayden groaned out with a roll of his eyes. Harley, although just as energetic as himself, wasn't one to break the rules. Chiron knew that, so of course that option was crossed off first.

"I'm afraid that is improbable. Harley is just as obedient to rules as Jason Grace is." Chiron said, confirming Hayden's thoughts. The only other options were: he got lost, or he was kidnapped. Hayden leaned towards the second.

"He couldn't have gotten lost. That Harley kid is one serious GPS." Leo commented as he sat on the wooden porch. Chiron nodded, and Mr. D scoffed.

"So basically this Hannah kid is Hayley's complete opposite?" The god of wine said, completely offending Hayden in the process. He wasn't _that_ bad at directions! Was he?

"Yeah, basically." Leo agreed with a tense laugh. Although he probably shouldn't have, Hayden pouted, stuck out his bottom lip, and crossed his arms, saying: "So we're just going to assume he was kidnaped, yeah?"

Everyone gave a grim node of consent.

"Now we've got to beat the crud out of whoever took my little bro." Hayden said determinedly, a small growl inching its way to his throat. He pumped his fist in the air and hurrahed.

"We will consult the oracle in the morning." Chiron added with a nod. Hayden just shook his head and abruptly stood up.

"No, too long. We go tonight." Hayden decided. He shoved the chair back and ran through the Big House and into the night. He heard Chiron's wheelchair racing to catch up. Leo wasn't far behind.

"Hayden, I don't think that's wise-" The centaur warned.

"Look, I'm a son of Apollo, prophecies are my thing! My prophecy is that this quest will go just dandy. Capeesh?"

He was racing towards the cabins before Chiron could agree or argue.

"What do I need to bring?" Leo asked as he ran over to Hayden. The poor chap was huffing and puffing like the Big Bad Wolf. Ever since the war with Gaea, Leo had taken exercise very casually. Although still fit, he wasn't used to running like he once was.

"You, McShizzle, are staying here."" Hayden commanded. "Calypso's surprise 'First Year Out Of Ogygia' party is in a couple days, and you need to be there.

"But Hayden! They're making me wear a _toga_. Do you know how flammable those things are?" Leo whined. The poor sucker even whipped out the puppy dog eyes. Hayden looked away before he could be reeled in by their utter pitifulness.

"Sorry Flame-O, no can do."

Hayden ran towards the Zeus cabin with a whiny Leo in tow. He had the perfect dream team all picked out. Magically, Erin seemed to realize that the team needed to be assembled. She stood, waiting, outside the Zeus cabin with his backpack. Her own backpack was slung across her back, and she had a fist raised as if to knock. Before she could, however, Hayden burst into the cabin and yelled, "HARLEYSGONEMISSINGPACKYOURTOOTHBRUSHWENEEDTOGONOPROPHECYNOWMOVEIT!"

The unlucky son of Zeus was pulling up his pajama bottoms when Hayden burst in. A small blush crept onto the boy's cheeks as he ran Hayden' jumbled message in his mind.

"Hayden, are you sure-" The boy asked, moving to grab his backpack.

"Yes, Sonic, now move!" Hayden howled. He charged into the room and stuffed random, important looking objects into the pack. He threw it at Sonic and raced out of the cabin.

"But me medication-"

"NO TIME!"

Hayden ran off with Erin and Sonic Boom not far behind. The young son of Zeus hurried to catch up, and the unclaimed girl ran with silent footsteps. Leo was probably off somewhere muttering about togas and fire.

They probably look pretty stupid as they ran to Camp Half-Blood's borders. Sonic Boom was still in his pi's, Erin was running wit two backpacks at the same time, and Hayden was hurrahing the whole time.

The three were out there before you could say 'supercalafrajalisticexpialadocious'.

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Percy J. I wish I did (doesn't everyone?).**

**Me: Thanks for reading! Like and review!**

**Hayden: Gosh. Way to turn my heart-wrenching story into a fan fiction stunt.**

**Me: It's my job as your agent to get your story as read as possible. =)**

**Hayden: I feel so secure. -_-**


	3. Patrick's Rock

**_Erin_**

Erin followed Hayden as he ran blindly through the night. Chiron was right, they should have waited till morning. Although the three of them were used to the darkness, Sonic and herself had bad memories from their past that the darkness awakened.

As soon as Hayden stopped for a break, Erin threw him his backpack. Although she was strong enough to carry them both, her sore limbs were aching for relief.

"Hayden, we're stopping for the night." Sonic Boom told their leader. Hayden took in a deep breath and nodded.

"Yep, we probably should."

Quicker than you can say 'llamas', Erin had their sleeping bags spread out under a crevice in a giant boulder. She was always prepared when it came to adventures. Last night, a…dream came to her. The three of them were hiking through a mountain. Erin figured that Hayden was going to have another impulsive moment, so she packed her bag and his early in the morning. Then, she snuck into the Zeus cabin and put Sonic's sleeping bag in plain sight so he wouldn't forget it. Everything else was up to Hayden and Sonic.

As the two males sat on their sleeping bags, Erin braved the night to gather wood. Once she had a big enough pile, she quickly, yet quietly, ran back into the crevice.

The crevice was more of an cave in the rock. You slid down a small slide-like crack until it opened up into a large cave. Hayden, the tallest of their motley group, could jump up and down without touching the ceiling. The inside was rough and harsh, probably meaning it wasn't a man-made cave.

Erin slid down into the rock and went down on her knees to arrange the sticks. Sonic scooted over to help, then he ran up to grab dry grass. Hayden just watched. The three of them had been on numerous quests before. Many of them were uncalled for and only done because Hayden overreacted about something. Over the months they adopted the perfect system. Erin and Sonic would set up camp, while Hayden hunted and cleaned up. As Hayden would say, the perfect dream team.

Sonic scurried into the cave, and Erin had a small fire going before anyone knew what was happening. Sonic slowly added more fuel until a nice sized fire blazed. Then the both of them calmly crawled over to their sleeping bags.

"Well, this is a strange turn of events." Hayden commented as they stared at the flames. Erin nodded. "It was unexpected, I mean."

"I'm guessing this has to do with Harley being missing?" Sonic inquired with a raised eyebrow. Nothing seemed to daunt Sonic. He always took strange things calmly and waited for all the facts before making a decision.

"Why yes, yes it does. Chiron got a message from Reyna saying that Harley went missing last night."

"Alright then. Our destination is Camp Jupiter, I'm guessing."

"Exactly!"

"Which way is Camp Jupiter?"

"Uh…east? No, west. Or was it south?"

Erin felt comforted already. She and Sonic knew where Camp Jupiter was; Sonic had only asked Hayden to make him feel like the leader. They did that a lot. Most of the intellectual part of a quest rested on Sonic's shoulders. Smarter than an Athena kid, Sonic was the wisest, kindest person Erin had ever met. She guessed it was a side-effect of being dead for decades.

"What's the game plan?" Sonic asked Hayden, kindly forgetting to mention that Camp Jupiter was west-ward.

"Honestly, I haven't thought that far." Hayden admitted sheepishly. "I kind of hoped we could go to Camp Jupiter, ask if anyone suspicious was around, then beat up the guy and save Harley."

Sonic didn't mention the fact that a lot of strange people lived near San Francisco. "Hayden-"

Sonic Boom was cut off by the giant body that slid into the cave. The person screamed when he faced the three shadowy figures on the other side of the fire.

"NICO NICO!" The person, a boy, about a year younger than Hayden, screamed towards the slide. His companion apparently didn't hear because another body slid down the slide. The two boys seemed to be about the same age, 15. They were both average size, about 5'7-5'8. One of them had healthy-looking, tanned skin and the other looked as pale as death and as skinny as MacDonald's fries.

"Uh…Nico?" The healthier looking boy asked the other. The healthy boy glanced at the three of them with fearful brown eyes, and he nervously tousled his own brown hair. The boy was jumpy and seemed to flinch at every sound.

"Hello, Sonic Boom." The smaller, malnourished one said to Sonic. This boy, like Sonic, had jet black hair. It looked like had just gotten out of bed. He had black eyes that were sunken in and had bright purple sleep lines underneath.

"Nico." Sonic greeted stiffly. "Erin, Hayden, meet Nico Di Angelo. Nico, meet Erin Harper and Hayden Jameston."

"This is Josh." Nico said with a jerk of his head towards the other boy. After a moment of silence, Hayden spoke.

"Is it just me, or does Sonic know Nico?" Hayden said unnecessarily.

"He's someone from my past." Sonic said, his eyes not leaving Nico. Erin nodded and patted her sleeping bag for the two newcomers to sit on. Everyone shifted until Hayden and Sonic were on the first sleeping bag, Erin on the second, and Nico and Josh on the last. The only sound was the howling wind outside and the cackling of the fire.

"So, what brings you to Patrick's rock?" Hayden asked Nico and Josh. Only Josh and Erin seemed to understand Hayden's Spongebob joke. Josh openly laughed, while she just smiled wryly.

"Well, Nico should explain all this. I'm still in shock." Josh said with a sly grin. Nico sighed.

"Alright."

**_Hayden_**

Hayden was slightly intimidated by the skinny pale guy and the skittish lean guy. He assumed they were demigods. Mostly because Nico Di Angelo was a legendary hero from the war with Gaea. Cross out that first sentence; Hayden was _very_ intimidated by the skinny pale guy. The son of Hades, they called him. Who was they? Everyone at Camp Half-Blood talked about Nico. You could say 'dark prince' and everyone would go into a full-out debate on Nico.

"I was sent by Chiron to bring a new demigod." Nico looked at Josh when he said 'new demigod'. "I shadow traveled to Louisiana to get a boy named Josh Ryan."

"We were attacked by these giant dogs!" Josh Ryan interrupted. He made dramatic hand motions as he described being attacked by what sounded like hellhounds. Although he said he was still in shock, Josh looked more excited than shocked. "They snapped at us with huge jaws and swiped their giant paws! I'm pretty sure I would have drowned in their saliva if Nico didn't shadow travel us out."

Nico seemed uncomfortable with Josh praising him. Hayden knew from experience that being praised for your deeds can be tough. For a while, he had hated getting praise for just being himself and saving people. Now he soaked it up like a pampers diaper.

"I felt like my face was being peeled off and that my eye balls were getting pushed deeper into my skull." Josh said, apparently ecstatic over the experience. "Then we appeared a couple miles off. Nico was totally zonked out, so I picked him up and walked this way. He woke up a little bit before we got here, and I found the crevice. So I crawled in. That's basically it."

Nico nodded as confirmation, and Hayden frowned. Chiron never usually forgot to send a satyr to find demigods. Maybe Nico could smell out demigods. Hayden found that highly unlikely.

"I'm glad you two are safe." Sonic said with a smile. He outstretched his hand, and Josh gladly took it. Nico, however, just ignored it.

"We should be going." Nico said with a glance at Josh. The boy, however, was grinning and staring at Erin. Oh boy. Hayden could see why Josh would look sat Erin like that. She wasn't ugly or anything. In fact, she was actually very pretty. Her shoulder length brown hair cascaded down her shoulders, and her bangs covered just about both eyes. One, however, peeked out in all its grey brilliance. As he said earlier, she carried around a deathly air. She glared at everyone, even him. Her dark clothing made her look goth, and she never looked anyone in the eyes.

"You guys can stay here the night." Sonic suggested. He cast a stray glance at Erin, and Hayden knew he was thinking the same thing he was: Erin would not be happy. As much as she hated physical contact, she hated strangers even more. She wasn't the friendliest girl.

"What do you think, Nico?" Josh asked the Ghost King with a joyful grin. Nico frowned and sighed.

"Fine."

Before anyone could say anything, both Nico and Erin stood up and walked to the slide. They noticed each other and hastily climbed up into the night. Josh stood up to follow them, but Sonic stopped him.

"They don't like people, give them space to think it over." Sonic suggested. Josh nodded hesitantly and sat back down. Hayden, suddenly feeling the emptiness of his stomach, reached into his backpack to see what Erin had packed him.

"WHAT?!" He howled when he saw what was in there. "She gave me BROCCOLI?!"

Sonic's eyes widened, and he smartly backed away till his back was against the cave wall. Josh stared with wide eyes as Hayden screamed at the top of his lungs:

"ERIIIIIIIIIIIIN!"

**Hayden: I can't believe you wrote another chapter in less than two hours.**

**Me: I'm just that amazing.**

**Hayden: You're just that weird.**

**Sonic: That was very fast, author, good job!**

**Me: See Hayden? Sonic thinks I'm impressive.**

**Hayden: He's only saying that. I bet that he could write a chapter twice as long as yours in less time!**

**Sonic: I don't think-**

**Me: BRING IT ON LIGHTNING BOY**

**Sonic: But I don't-**

**Hayden: YEAH, SONIC! SHOW THAT STINKY AUTHOR WHAT YOU CAN DO!**

**Sonic: *walks away***

**Me: Winner by default!**

**Hayden: I think the world just exploded.**

**Me: How?**

**Hayden: You disobeyed all laws of nature by winning against Sonic Boom.**

**Me: ...**


	4. A Moment to Forget

**_Erin_**:

"ERIIIIIIIIIIIIN!"

Erin walked away from the ghastly Nico and melted into the forest. The only sounds were her silent footsteps, brave crickets, and nightly chirps. The darkness was like a monster, just waiting to snuff out Erin's life. It had tried many times, and it had almost won many times, but Erin had always pulled through, no matter what.

A distant howl caused Erin to pause for a moment. Her eyes widened, and she glanced around fearfully for the creature that was sure to appear. Another howl. This time, she ran. Where? She wasn't sure. It didn't really matter as long as she got away from the monster behind her. Memories resurfaced into her mind, and Erin shook her head. Memories are like knives; they pierce your heart whenever they appear.

She couldn't stop it. The running, the fear, the howls, it was all too similar. She couldn't stop the onslaught on knives that awakened. She could only hope it would end soon.

_Erin was quietly sneaking through the forest, her heart running marathons in her chest. Her combat boots made silent plops as they ran through the grassy ground. She dodged a tree every other step; the forest around her was howling. Then, out of nowhere, a hellhound stopped her in her tracks. The giant beast had drool cascading down its jaw, and it snarled. Erin whipped out __Απελπισία, or, Apelpisía. It was Greek for 'despair'. _

_Erin's heart raced as she screamed like a madwoman and charged the hellhound. She was without armor, without a companion, and without hope. Her side gushed blood like an ever-flowing fountain; it was a wound Erin received from a relative of her new opponent. _

_The hellhound sniffed the air and howled when it smelled Erin's blood. These mangy beasts were after her. They had hunted her for weeks. Although they hadn't been able to kill her the last time, they both knew that this was the end._

_The creature dodged her feeble attack and snapped its jaws at her. It nicked her turtle neck sweater and, thankfully, missed her. It's smelly dog breath made her cringe in disgust. It smelled like human flesh. Her partner, to be exact. The one who had taught her how to survive._

_Anger coursed its way through her veins, and she took a swipe at the beast. It nimbly dodged out of the way, and Erin stumbled forward when the force of her thrust yanked her. Gaining her balance, Erin faced the ghastly beast once more. Then, before she could attack, another hellhound forced its way closer. It burst through a thorn bush and showed Erin in spikes. She gasped when thousands of thorns pierced her skin. The two hellhounds pounced, and she ducked._

_The hounds went flying over her head and crashed into each other. They snarled and prepared to pouch once more. Then, before either one could, an echoing laughter made them both silent. Erin kept her sword up, even when the dark shadow of a creature covered both her and the hellhounds. She gasped and fell to her knees when the creature revealed itself. Its icy tendrils reached out for her, and she was helpless. Just the image of it scarred her mind, and she was paralyzed. Her mind told her to run. It screamed at her._

_Its shadowy fingers inched closer and closer. Her mind shut down. It was right in front of her. It raised one finger and was about to thrust it into her heart-_

Erin, who had been running throughout her memory, crashed into something hard. It wasn't a tree because the thing fell with her. The forest around her sloped downwards, so they both rolled down the hill, their limbs entangled as they helplessly descended. Erin's breath was knocked out of her when they abruptly stopped, and the object crushed her underneath itself. Erin grunted and pushed against the object. She opened her eyes and gasped.

"N-nico?" She stuttered. The boy was above her and looked as shocked as she felt. His black eyes gazed into her own, and Erin could see the insanity and fear in them. They were black pools of feeling; fear, loneliness, loss, they all danced in his eyes. Erin couldn't look away. She was sure that Nico saw the same thing in her eyes. He had, after all, scared the heck out of her.

"Oh, uh, hi?" He said. "You're, uh…"

"Erin." She told him quietly, her voice was husky from neglect. Erin never usually talked unless there wasn't anyone to talk for her. No one really knew why. Of course, she knew. That would be weird if even she didn't know why she didn't talk.

It was then that Erin realized they hadn't moved from their awkward position. Nico was above her with his hands next her her head, supporting his torso. Her back was against the ground, and Erin was suddenly reminded of the romance movies she watched before…everything.

"I, uh…" Nico muttered as a blush creeped onto his pale face. He rolled over and ran a hand through his matted black hair. "Sorry, I uh, didn't see you there…"

Erin nodded and sat up. She gave him a thumbs up and said, "I-it's okay. I s-should have w-watched where I was g-g-going."

She wasn't scared. She wasn't nervous. She wasn't embarrassed. Those things weren't why she was stuttering. She had stuttering problems. That was it. Ever since the incident with her mom, Erin stuttered. At first she had tried to control it, but then she gave up. It just wouldn't go away. It just wouldn't.

"Why were you running?" Nico asked, ignoring her stuttering. She was grateful that he didn't point it out.

"S-same reason you w-were, I guess." She said with a shrug. Nico didn't need an explanation; he knew what she meant. People were always a problem with her. They always wanted you to give them something, but they often times wouldn't want to repay the favor. When something went wrong they expected you to fix it. They expected you to have their back no matter the circumstance. If being on the run had taught her anything, it was that you couldn't trust anyone except yourself.

"Sorry for barging in." He said as he pulled tiny pieces of grass up from the ground. Somehow, when she hadn't been looking, all the grass around them had died. "In the crevice, I mean. Josh should have waited."

"N-no problem. 'S n-not ours."

"Why are you camped there, anyway?"

"H-hayden's brother, Harley, w-went missing."

"Harley Jameston? That kid at Camp Jupiter that jumps on the couches before he eats and yells 'Harleyopolis'?"

"Y-yup. H-hayden does that t-too. 'Cept he s-says 'Haydenopolis'."

"I should have seen the resemblance." Nico said with a bob of his head. Erin nodded. Hayden and Harley both had the same hay colored hair and cyan blue eyes. Although, Hayden was stronger and Harley was smarter. Both of them were quiet until Nico stood up and held his hand out for her.

"We should get back before Hayden explodes." The boy suggested. Erin nodded and stood, ignoring his hand. Nico didn't seem offended. They both trudged up the hill they had rolled down. There wasn't any conversation until Nico asked, "Who's your parent?"

He probably meant godly parent. Unfortunately, she was unclaimed. She was pretty sure that her godly parent had claimed her while on the run, so he wouldn't break the rule of claiming a kid by age 13.

"I-I'm unclaimed." She confessed. Nico slowed down a bit and glanced at her before he sped up.

"But, aren't you on a quest? Unclaimed demigods can't go on quests, can they?"

"N-no, not traditionally. H-hayden's very impulsive, and h-he freaked when Ch-chiron said Harley was missing."

Nico nodded.

"W-what about you?" Erin asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Hades, god of the underworld." Nico said, somewhat bitterly.

They walked silently until the cave came into view.

"Where WERE you?!" Hayden exclaimed as he paced near the mouth of the cave. He walked over and bear hugged Erin before she could answer. Nico stood on the sideline and watched as Hayden inspected her new bruises and scratched. "What did you do, maul a bear?"

"Don't you mean get mauled by a bear?" Josh asked, seeming to appear out of nowhere.

"Nope. Erin could kick any bear's butt." Hayden said proudly, as if she was his own kid. She rolled her eyes. Her cousin had the insane idea that Erin was some sort of Superwoman. Which she wasn't, of course.

"I can't believe you packed me broccoli." Hayden pouted angrily. "I hate broccoli."

"I d-didn't. That was m-my broccoli." Erin said with a frown. Understanding dawned in Hayden's mind, and he made a stupid 'oooh' face.

"So…I didn't need to eat that?"

"You a-ate my broccoli?"

Hayden's eyes widened and he whistled innocently. He inched towards the slide as Erin's eyebrows pinched together. Honestly, she loved broccoli. LOVED broccoli. It was on her Top Ten Food list, #6.

"I'm just gonna…go to bed now." And with that, Hayden disappeared.

"Ya know, I'm just gonna follow him…" Josh muttered when he saw her furious expression. Erin was left with Nico as company. They stared awkwardly at each other before they both slide into the cave. There, just as the two boys said, Hayden and Josh were 'sleeping' in their sleeping bags. Erin sighed and stole some Goldfish from Hayden's bag.

Sonic Boom was crawling into the same sleeping bag as Hayden when the two of them slid into the cave. In order for Nico and Josh to stay with them, Hayden and Sonic were sharing a sleeping bag. Erin got one all to herself. She didn't even bother being nice as she comfortably moved around in her sleeping bag. Hayden, being a big guy, squished Sonic so the son of Zeus barely had any sleeping room. Nico and Josh, too, were squished. Erin rubbed it in by kicking her feet and moving from side to side.

The fire sudden fizzled out of existence, and Erin calmed down.

It was then that the howls reappeared.

**Sorry, I write in a really boring way =/ It's, like, über serious. I don't even talk that way! Weird.**

**Hayden: So you've finally admitted that you're weird, ah?**

**Me: I've always been weird. I'm talking with my own fictional character, helloooooo?**

**Sonic: Sometimes I talk to my fictional characters.**

**Hayden: How can a fictional character have his own fictional characters?**

**Sonic: Even I get bored and need imaginary friends.**

**Hayden: First off, I'm ****_fictional_****, not imaginary. Big difference.**

**Me: Yeah, he's right Sonic. They're totally different.**

**Sonic: Well...I guess I don't have fictional characters.**

**Me: Now that that's all cleared up, thanks for reading!**


	5. Walking in a Forest Wonderland

**_Hayden:_**

Of course, I was comfortable in my cramped sleeping bag when the howling started. We just _had_ to get attacked on our first night. Sonic and I scrambled to get out, and Nico and Josh did the same. Erin, who was alone in her bag, immediately jumped out like a trained ninja or something. Honestly, this girl was Superwoman.

Another howl pierced the silence, and I saw spit slowly working its way into the cave.

"Ugh…is that…?" Josh said in disgust as the saliva inched its way into the cave,

"EEEEW!" I howled. Seriously, spit is _disgusting_. Absolutely disgusting. Especially when it comes from ten foot tall monsters that want to rip me to shreds.

"H-hellhounds." Erin said fearfully. I resisted the urge to say 'Well, duh!'. I searched the cave for the one item I couldn't live without: my kick-butt bow.

"Not those dogs again!" Josh complained. He looked around as if trying to find some place to hide. Nico got out an awesome obsidian sword, and Erin pulled out her own; the wicked sword called Despair. Sonic, unlike Erin and I, didn't use a weapon. He preferred to use his 'magical powers'.

The crackle of lightning was heard and all of a sudden I smelled burnt flesh. I walked over to the slide and poked my head out. There, I was bombarded by the icky smell of scorched hellhound.

"Dude, that was bloody brilliant!" I exclaimed. The hellhound had a hole clean through! Its wound steamed slightly, and I was a little shocked to see it still alive. "Poor chap. He's just been burned clean through."

To stop its misery, I used Erin's sword to pierce it through its skull. Everything was silent after than. I crawled back into the cave and worked my way into the sleeping bag I shared with Sonic.

"What about the smell?" Josh said with a crinkle of his nose. Being a demigod, I was totally used to this stuff. It would be tiring and bothersome to worry about the dead body right now, and I wasn't sure if there were others outside. So, I said the first thing that came to my mind: "You just gotta deal with it."

Everyone got back in their sleeping bags, and we fell asleep.

~~~~~MAGIC TIME SKIP~~~~~

Of course, I had to wake up alone.

"Erin? Sonic?" I called. The smell of burnt hellhound was still in the air, but it wasn't as bad as the farts my half-brothers give off. "Guys? Where are you?"

Everything was gone except for me and my sleeping bag. Erin and Sonic must've let me sleep in and cleaned up for me. I groggily got out of the bag and yawned, taking my time. Everyone, including Nico and Josh, were probably waiting outside. In my mind, I saw Erin sharpening one of her many hidden knives while sitting Indian-style on a large rock. Sonic would probably be calculating every twist and turn we'd have to walk before getting to Camp Jupiter. Nico would probably be sulking in the shadows, and Josh would be conspicuous and stare at Erin with doe eyes. That was what I expected.

Once I was stretched, I casually rolled up my sleeping bag and lugged it over my shoulder. I took my time crawling up the slope of the cave's entrance. There was no one outside.

Okay, I have to admit, I kind of freaked by that point. The stench of death was in the air, but I assumed that it came from the hellhound corpse a couple feet away. Instead of disposing of it, the others just moved it out of the way. Flies buzzed around its side and head wounds. I looked around for any sign of them, but I couldn't find anything that suggested they had been there.

Except a piece of Erin's shirt sleeve hanging from a branch.

Knowing Erin, she had either been dragged off half-dead, or she had put that there so I would know were to go. I preferred to think that it was the second option, but just in case, I ran in the direction of the cloth. The sleeping bag thumped against my back as I ran, and my stomach groaned angrily. That broccoli had made my stomach VERY mad. Broccoli is just the WORST food. WORST. Whenever I eat it I feel like I'm eating a tree. Whenever someone says to imagine broccoli is a tree, I have to keep myself from saying, 'So, you want this to taste like bark?'

"Erin?" I yelled, still a little freaked out by their disappearance. My eyes searched the forest for anyone. Anyone, really. Whether it was a monster who's butt I could kick, or whether it was Josh, who could probably tell me where everyone was.

I saw two figures walking through the woods. They _looked_ like people, but you can never tell when you're a demigod. They could have been Gorgons! Of course, they weren't Gorgons.

It was way stranger.

Erin and Nico walked side-by-side. Usually Erin would walk as far away from someone strange when it was just the two of them. The brown haired beauty, however, walked beside him as comfortably as when she was with me. Even then she was stiff and looked at her feet. Nico kept his hands in his jean pockets and walked with the same slouch as Erin. Occasionally he'd pull one of hands out to swat his hair out of his face. Both of them were pale and thin, both with slight frowns and bags under their eyes.

Overall, they looked like emo siblings. Nico with his dark glare and skulls, and Erin with her black clothing and gloomy atmosphere.

"Erin! Nico!" I called up to them. They stopped walking, turned their heads towards each other, and looked behind. I ran to catch up with them.

"Thanks for leaving me, guys." I complained. "Do you know how creepy it is to wake up alone in a cave with a hellhound corpse?"

Erin rolled her eyes and shrugged, looking at Nico as if expecting him to answer for her. Nico did, saying, "Sonic and Josh went ahead of us. Apparently Sonic has a Google maps installed in his brain. According to him, there should be a town a mile or so away."

Erin nodded with everything he said. The two glanced at each other than at me. "We were waiting for you," Nico confessed. "But Erin got bored. So she suggested putting a piece of her sleeve on a branch. She figured you'd follow it."

Erin nodded, and I frowned.

"You got bored, so you left me with only a part of your shirt sleeve in the hopes that I'd understand where you went?" I said, a little bit offended. It was a little upsetting knowing that your cousin was too bored to wait for you. Although, I was a little happy that she thought I was smart enough to figure out her clue.

Nico and Erin nodded to what I said. Call me crazy, but they reminded me of goth siamese twins. They just seemed to be in sync. Just with looks they were able to communicate exactly what they wanted the other to know. It was a little freaky, yet cool at the same time.

"Does Sonic really have a Google maps in his mind?" Nico asked shyly. I blinked.

"Well, that kid memorized the whole bloody map. He knows every street and valley like I know my name: most of the time impossible to forget."

"Most of the time?"

"I have my moments."

Nico just nodded. He and Erin went back to being antisocial. I just trailed behind them whistling random tunes. We walked for a while. Eventually I realized that they were exaggerating when they meant it was only a mile or two away. That, or Sonic's brain Google maps was dysfunctional for once. The scenery was the same as we walked. I couldn't ward off the boredom. It definitely didn't help when the two Gloom Guys just walked without another word. It was TORTURE. So, I decided to pass the time by singing.

"Lately I've been, I've been loosing sleep."

Erin groaned when I sang that first line. She knew what I was going to sing: my favorite song. I can't help it; my heart just loves this song.

"Dreamin' about the things that we could be."

Nico looked back at me curiously as I began to sing the chorus.

"'Cause lately I've been, I've been praying hard,

Said 'no more counting dollars we'll be, we'll be counting stars.'"

"You sing?" Nico asked, apparently not aware that I was the son of Apollo, the _king_ of music.

"Well duh I sing. I'm the son of Apollo." I said, flashing him a grin. Nico rolled his eyes.

"Not all sons of Apollo sing."

"Yeah, true, but we all have the voices of angels." I said, framing my face with my hands. I made my best angelic face, and Nico snorted. Amusement moved his mouth upward, and I grinned widely. I was immensely proud when Nico's mouth twitched, and he cleared his throat to keep from laughing.

"I-I think you made N-Nico sick." Erin said with wide eyes, pretending to stutter in fear. Nico snorted with wide eyes, and I burst into laughter. The image of sickening Nico with corny jokes filled my mind. I just laughed harder. Erin snickered in amusement as Nico paused and doubled over to keep from laughing.

"Just let it flow, bro. LET IT GO!" I yelled, singing the last part. My laughs interrupted what I said, but that didn't stop Nico and Erin from hearing. The little Ghost King took my advice and just let it go. His laughs came out jagged with exaggerated intakes of breath. His knees went weak, and Nico fell to the ground with laughter. Erin covered her laughs with her hand and crouched because her knees were threatening to buckle, too. I didn't even bother falling gracefully. I just flopped.

I ran more corny jokes through my brain until I couldn't find THE perfect quote. Right when I needed it most, all my quotes disappeared.

"I-If I d-die now, I w-want to be buried w-with Mr. Squ-squiggles." Erin said between giggles and laughs. I laughed harder. It didn't seem possible, but I was CHOKING. Mr. Squiggles was my old stuffed pig that was sacrificed as one of Octavian's 'prophecies'. I have his remains in a box at Camp Half-Blood.

"Mr. Squiggles, may you rest in pieces." I managed to wheeze out. Erin shook her head and laughed quietly. She clutched her sides and rocked back in forth, trying to calm the laughter.

After a couple minutes of controllable laughter, Erin and Nico calmed themselves down. Nico had a faint blush on his cheeks and a carefree smile. He rubbed his head with one of his hands and casually stood up. Erin stood up from her crouch raised her hands above her head to stretch. I laid on the ground for a while before hoisting myself up. I had a couple twigs and leaves stuck on me, but I ignored them and stretched as well.

"We should get going." Nico said. He sounded slightly embarrassed for openly laughing.

"Yeah, I bet Sonic'll have our heads if we take any longer." I commented with a sigh. Yep, Sonic would have our heads. Although he was a calm, kind kid, even he had a pet peeve that drove him crazy. Sonic hates to wait. Although everyone essentially hates waiting, Sonic cannot stand it when someone is late. It drives him crazy.

Nico and Erin started walking casually in the direction Sonic and Josh had gone. I felt anxiety work its way into my chest. I didn't want to get Sonic grumpy right at the beginning of the quest (seriously, that kid is the king of grudges), so I decided to run ahead of the two dark ones.

"I'm going to run ahead." I told them as I started to jog forwards. They nodded and kept up their slow pace. I rolled my eyes and barreled forwards, putting everything I had into running.

Soon enough I saw a large clearing. I burst through the trees and mentally rejoiced when sure enough, there was a town.

"What took you so long?" Sonic grumbled. Apparently I wasn't fast enough. His arms were crossed, and he looked like he had been pouting. His eyebrows were scrunched together, and his normally-kind green eyes were brewing up a storm. Josh sat, bored, on a bench near the forest. He had both arms slung over the back of the bench. Josh eyed Sonic warily.

"Sorry, we were making funeral arrangements." I said with a smile. Sonic Boom frowned and glared.

"Where's Nico and Erin?"

"I told you; I made funeral arrangements."

Josh's eyes widened as he said, "You killed Nico and Erin?"

"What? Of course not!" I said, stumbling on my words humorously. Josh's eyes only widened further.

"Go tell them to hurry up." Sonic grumbled. I rolled my eyes and headed towards the forest. I wasn't too happy to be back in that dreary forest. It looked exactly the same. Tree, tree, rock, tree, twig, rock, bush, possibly poisonous berry, bush, tree, rock, bush, bush, Erin, Nico, bush, tree, rock, another possibly poisonous berry, bush…wait. Erin and Nico?

I stopped running and turned around. Sure enough, Erin and Nico were by some bushes. Or, more like Erin's upper body was stuck in the bush and Nico was trying to pull her out.

That's when everything went south.

**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed =)**

**Hayden: I certainly didn't.**

**Sonic: Why not? I was quite satisfied.**

**Hayden: Did you not see the horrible ending? That is a HORRIBLE cliffy! How am I supposed think properly if I'm waiting to see what happens?!**

**Sonic: But...you already know what happens.**

**Hayden: Oh, yeah.**


	6. The Dragon, The Boy, and the Bush

**_Erin:_**

Being stuck in a bush wasn't one of my best moments. Everything had happened so fast; one minute Nico and I were silently walking and the next I went flying face first into a bush. I felt Nico's hands wrap around my legs and try to pull me out. Branches scratched my face, and leaves got stuck in my nose and mouth. Overall, not my best wipe-out.

Suddenly, Nico's hands let go, and I was left in the bush. My arms were stuck as well and every time I moved them the branches would scratch them. I felt them dig into my skin as I hopelessly struggled against a couple twigs and leaves.

"Erin, are you okay?" Hayden yelled from somewhere. I opened my mouth to say something, but the branches scraped my face every time I moved. I could only kick my feet and hope he understood. A roar shattered the earth, and I struggled to escape my leafy prison. The earth shook slightly, and I heard Hayden gasp and mutter, "Blimey!"

Nico cursed in what sounded like Italian, and the thumping got louder. I struggled even more. The branches dug into my skin like power drills, and I felt helpless. Although it might have seemed strange to be stuck in a bush, I have to say it was harder to get out than I thought.

Another roar erupted, and I felt heat work its way towards me. The sound of a blazing fire alarmed me, and I smelled smoke. Another roar, and Hayden started yelling bizarre things.

"You can't be bloody serious! A DRAGON?! I know we're demigods and shouldn't be surprised by this kind of stuff, but a bloody DRAGON?! Now that's going too far!"

A dragon? An image of Mushu was the first thing that came to my mind. Then I remembered Greek mythology and images of Hydras, Pythons, and Ladons filled my mind. I became conscious of the heat getting hotter and hotter. My feet started sweating, and I realized that the forest was burning. I struggled harder until an explosion swung my legs over my head, and I was ripped out of the bush. I tumbled for a while before my back crashed onto a tree and I felt my head smack against the rough bark.

Spots danced in my eyes, and I lay there for a while as dizziness overcame every thought. I carefully stood up. My knees buckled and I crashed back onto the ground. Still slightly blind, I saw flames lick the trees ahead of me, and the bush I had been in was completely eaten by flames.

The roar of the dragon echoed in my ears, and I threw up my hands to cover my ears. Blood dripped down my face and arms where the branches had cut me, and my teeth rattled when the earth shook again. The piercing shriek of the dragon shook my bones, and I lay there, shocked, as the dragon's face appeared before me.

It's eyes glowed red, and a serpentine body coiled around the flaming trees. The red of its scales reflected off the fire, and I was awed by its bright glow. It's mouth was opened slightly, revealing blood stained teeth and a forked tongue. It hissed and stuck out its tongue. Bat-like wings were pressed tightly against its side, and its long 'hands' reached out for me. Its nails looked as sharp as knives; its breath was hot like a ghost pepper. Tendrils of smoke curled out of its nostrils, and I coughed.

Its giant claws curled around my waist gently. What was it doing? Dragons didn't kidnap people…did they?

The dragon's wings snapped open, and I threw my hands over my eyes when it roared and pushed downwards on its wings. The trees swayed dangerously, and I got a glimpse of the dragon's body. It was three legged like a centaur; two pairs for walking and one pair for grabbing. A long tail swung behind it with what looked like a fish tail at the end.

We were airborne before I knew it. Panic seized my throat, and I screamed involuntarily. The dragon hung a couple feet above the ground and roared with all its might. Probably gloating.

"ERIN!" Hayden screamed from the ground. I strained my eyes against the smoke from the dragon's nose. Sure enough, Hayden and Nico charged the dragon fearlessly. Hayden had his bow out and was knocking an arrow as he ran. He released his first arrow, but it bounced harmlessly off the dragon's blood red scales. Nico held a sword forged with stygian iron; a sword that can harm both mortals and immortals. The dragon roared, and red hot flames burst from its mouth. I shielded my eyes, and I coughed when a ton of smoke burst from the dragon's nose. The fire coming from its mouth stung my skin and eyes; I coughed.

The forest was on fire. The area where Hayden and Nico had been was scorched with flames and ash. I searched for any sign of the boys. I was disappointed. Then, I heard a cry of pain. I stared, shocked, at Hayden. He was pinned underneath a fallen tree, the fire roaring around him.

"SAVE ERIN!" Hayden yelled at someone. Nico. The boy was carefully picked himself up and nodded at Hayden.

"NO!" I screamed. He needed to help Hayden! Not me! Hayden!

Nico started running at the dragon, and it roared. With its leathery wings, the dragon prepared to fly off. Faster than I thought, Nico caught up and lunged at the dragon.

The dragon's wings moved up and down. We were airborne.

**_Hayden:_**

The dragon soared into the air. My vision blurred. The fire grew bigger. The tree on me grew heavier. The world around me turned black.

**{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}**

My eyes opened blearily. The tree on top of me was an impossible weight that just seemed to keep getting heavier. I coughed when the smoke reached my lungs, and the heat of the fire grew. Two blurry figures ran closer, and I heard Sonic and Josh yelling at me.

"Hayden—what hap—are you oak— ere's Nico?" Sonic's words started to blur, and I blacked out.

**{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}**

Once again, I opened my eyes. More cautiously this time, though. Hands were clasped around my ankles and wrists. My body swung back and forth as if I was a pig hanging on a wooden stick. My whole body was sore. I groaned painfully.

"Hayden?" A voice asked. "Hayden, are you awake?"

I blacked out.

**{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}**

I awoke in a bed. A very comfy bed, I might add. Wait…a bed?

I sat up frantically and winced immediately when pain spread through my back. I looked around slowly and was surprised to see that I was in a very small hotel room. In front of me there was a cheap TV, and Sonic lay asleep on the couch next to me. I could hear someone snoring from the room down the hall.

I cautiously pulled off the covers and laid my feet on the cold floor. When my body left the bed, I cringed in pain. I felt the burns that were on my back, and I still felt like coughing up smoke.

Slowly, I made my way down the hall to see who was snoring. It was Josh. I inspected the room. No Nico. No Erin. I walked back into the room I had woken up in. No Nico. No Erin. Clutching the bed frame, I carefully sat down on the floor and leaned against the bed. Erin's scream pierced my mind, and I recalled yelling at Nico to save her. The last thing I remember was the dragon flying off.

"Hayden?" Sonic muttered groggily as he opened his eyes. The boy yawned and sat up to stretch. He looked at me with wise eyes and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Just brilliant." I muttered. Honestly, I felt like crud. My back was killing me, and I'm pretty sure my underpants were trying kill me via wedgie.

"Do you remember what happened?"

"Of course!" I snorted after I spoke. Why wouldn't I remember? It's not like I was in a coma for years. Or had I been? "How long was I out?"

"Couple hours."

I breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back further. With my eyes closed, I imagined up the dragon. Honestly, that dragon was bloody brilliant. It was a teenage boy's dream come true. But it was also a demigod's worst nightmare. The fact that dragons _do_ actually kidnap damsels in distress was a little bit disappointing. I mean, I felt like the dragon wasn't there to kill us, I felt like it _wanted_ _Erin_. I shook my head to destroy those thoughts.

"What happened?" Sonic asked gently as he moved to sit beside me.

"Well, long story short, a dragon stole Erin and Nico tried to save her."

"Did Nico-"

"Probably not. I'm pretty sure the dragon didn't kill him. Although I might be wrong…"

"Let's hope you aren't."

**_Erin:_**

The wind in my face wasn't a bad feeling. It was the giant knife-like claws clutching my waist that was the problem. Other than that, I enjoyed flying through the air.

The ground beneath me was like a blur. Before I knew it the dragon was flying over cities and towns. I recognized the St. Louis Arch, but we passed it in a manner of seconds. It seemed like the dragon was taking me across the whole United States. The creature beat its wings rapidly and suddenly roared loudly. I noticed a giant mountain range in the distance. I also noticed how the dragon was starting to fold its wings to dive.

I screamed as the dragon dived straight at the mountains. With my eyes closed in fear, I felt the dragon twist and turn like a Disneyland roller coaster. The cool wind slapped my cheeks angrily, and I whimpered slightly. Never in my life have I ever been captured by a dragon. Never in my life have I ever imagined that I'd even _see_ a dragon.

I opened my eyes when the dragon roared and the wind became calm. Somehow, the dragon had found a cave in the middle of a US mountain range. Stalagmites and stalactites were everywhere, and I heard the quiet dripping sounds of water. I also heard running water, and the click of claws against stone.

One thing I was not expecting were the giant crystals imbedded in the rock. Or the certain human being named Nico Di Angelo.

**Hayden: Nico? OOOOOOH I feel a juicy story emerging.**

**Sonic: Juicy? Why juicy?**

**Hayden: I don't know!**


	7. The Gods of Milk and Butter

**_Erin:_**

Nico Di Angelo stood in front of the dragon with his stygian sword out and ready. I was still in the dragon's claws, and I felt the breath get knocked out of me when the monster tightened its grip. My lips puckered up like a fish as I gasped in as much air as possible.

A snarl escaped the beast's mouth, and I swear I heard the same sound come from Nico right after. The dragon looked around the cave for a moment before it roared and charged Nico. I held on for dear life as both beings made loud noises (a mixture of snarls, howls, and roars) and charged the other.

"TASTE THE BUTTERY GOODNESS OF SUNNYSIDE FARMS!" A male voice yelled from somewhere. His voice echoed all over the cave, and I was a little bit daunted by its volume. Before I knew what was happening, Nico cried out in surprise as butter rained down on him.

"FEEL THE DELICIOUS CREAMY-NESS OF SUNNYSIDE FARMS!" A more feminine voice screeched. The dragon paused, and we both watched as what looked like milk rained all over Nico. He slipped and crashed onto the wet, buttery rock. His black hair was dyed white with chunks of butter stuck in random places, and his clothes were soaking wet. Every time he got up he just…slipped. Nico tried to get up about a hundred times before he just collapsed in the giant puddle of milk and butter chunks.

"What kind of security system uses butter and milk for weapons?" Nico said tiredly. He wiped his eyes and breathed heavily.

"Ex_cuse_ me?" One of the voices said, sounding offended. "Security system?!"

"Bessie, would you be a dear and drop the nice girl?" The feminine voice asked. Now that she wasn't yelling, the girl actually sounded sweet.

It wasn't until the dragon purred that I realized who Bessie was. The beast dropped its claw to the ground and carefully loosened its claws. I gasped in air and tumbled to the ground, despite feeling completely fine. Instead of standing up and walking, Nico took the safer way and shuffled on his knees towards me.

I lay on my back as the drenched Nico crawled over. He collapsed next to me and copied how I lay before he sighed. "You okay?" He asked, turning his head to look at me. I nodded. We both stared at each other before a giant gust of wind blew my hair into my face. I looked up to see Bessie the dragon fly off out of the cave.

"There goes our ride." Nico said, sighing once again. He took a chunk of butter and plopped it into his mouth sullenly. I copied him, and he raised an eyebrow at me. Like broccoli, butter is on my Favorite Foods list. Overall, it's #3. Basically one of the best foods ever. I reached over to grab another piece of butter, but Nico slapped my hand out of the way.

"Don't eat my butter." He said teasingly. I tried to raise my eyebrow like he did, but I failed. He smirked at me and slowly, _very_ slowly put another chunk of butter in his mouth. He chewed slowly to rub it in my face.

You can take away my broccoli, but no one takes away my butter. NO ONE.

I thrust my hand out lightning fast and grabbed a piece of butter. Nico grabbed my hand before I could eat the piece, and we both used as much strength as possible to keep the other from winning. Nico went so far as to pry my fingers open. Eventually he got the piece of butter from my hands, and he grinned in triumph. I, however, wasn't done.

_My_ butter.

I grabbed Nico's wrists and leaned up. He stared at me as I put my mouth over his fingers and sucked the butter.

"D-did you just…?" He said with wide eyes as he stared at his fingers. I chewed slowly, rubbing it in his face like he did to me.

"A_hem_."

Nico and I jumped in surprise. We forgot about the two people who had showered him in Sunnyside Farms products.

"I'm Voútyro." A tall, tan boy said with a grin. His hair was a buttery yellow, and he had calm, warm hazel eyes. He was muscular enough, not skinny like Nico but not buff like Hayden. He wore a Greek chiton, an outfit made of thin, smooth fabric that reached to his knees. It had no 'sleeves', but it was held up with a golden clasp at the shoulder. A golden belt wove around his waist, and golden sandals graced his feet. The only modern thing about him were the aviator glasses he wore. He looked about seventeen, and he munched on a stick of butter casually. "The god of butter."

…The god of butter?

Nico and I exchanged a confused look. There was a god of butter? According to my mythology lessons when I went to school, ancient Greeks thought butter was too valuable to eat. They considered it a medicinal food.

"I'm Gála." A short, thin girl said with a shy smile. Her hair was a strange silvery color, her skin was milky white (completely white), and her eyes were a very light gray. Like the boy, she wore a Greek chiton. It was the same except it had silver clasps, a silver belt, silver sandals, and reached to her ankles. The girl seemed to be the same age as the boy, and she chugged milk as casually as the boy. "The goddess of milk."

…The goddess of milk?

"Huh?" Nico asked in confusion. I nodded. The boy god rolled his eyes.

"Fine, be stupid. I'm Voútyro, the god of butter, and this is my sister, Gála, the goddess of milk. Got it?"

Nico and I nodded mutely. It all seemed so…strange. Were they really the god of butter and the goddess of milk? Of all things, why those two? Why couldn't they be the gods of dairy? Why single out butter and milk?

"If you're really gods, why haven't I heard of you?" Nico challenged. The girl, Gála, sighed.

"The others gods find us too shameful to be spoken of." She said sadly. Voútyro nodded with a frown.

"Apparently we're 'mistakes'. Demeter and a minor god of agriculture gave birth to us in the hope that'd we'd be 'mega gods'. You know, like gods of beef, pork, grain, anything! Turns out we're the god of butter and the goddess of milk."

"We were banished into this cave to create delicious butter and milk." Gála said sweetly. Unlike her brother, she didn't seem annoyed or angry at being shunned. "We create the majority of Sunnyside Farm's butter and milk. We're currently trying to learn how to make cheese!"

"What about the dragon?" Nico asked cautiously.

"Oh, Bessie? She's nothing. Just a guard to make sure we don't run off." He said with a wave of his hand as if that was normal. As if. "Sometimes she gives us favors and captures mortals to do our bidding."

Do their bidding? An uncomfortable feeling worked its way into my mind. Were these two planning to make us work? Nico gulped.

"What do you mean, do your bidding?"

Voútyro sighed and pinched his eyes with is fingers in an exasperated gesture. "Wow, Bessie really chose some stupid ones this time. It means you will do whatever we say, or you die."

Nico and I gulped. What would two neglected gods make us do? My question was answered when Gála walked up to me and bound my wrists in chains. They were like handcuffs, but I felt its celestial bronze metal burn into my skin. The goddess placed the same type of chains on Nico.

"Follow me." She said as she turned around and starting walking deeper into the cave. The cuffs had a chain connected to them like a leash, and each god had their own mortal. Gála yanked on my chain to make me hurry up, and Voútyro tugged on Nico's. We both grudgingly followed.

We walked through a narrow hallway before the cave opened up. I gaped in amazement at the rolling, grassy fields, and at the millions of cows grazing. A large, stereotypical barn that looked like it belonged to Old McDonald was built right in the middle, and the two gods led us there. The whole field was still in the cave, but I smelled fresh air coming from tiny holes in the roof. It took a couple minutes to walk all the way to the barn. The large doors were opened, and Nico and I were shoved inside. Piles of hay were stacked everywhere. Probably for the cows to eat when inside.

The loft of the barn had straw and hay laid around so you could lay there comfortably without touching the wooden surface. A trough of water was underneath the loft, and what looked like a shower was next to it.

"You'll sleep here." Voútyro commanded. I glanced around and realized that the hay on the loft was for us, and the trough and shower were also for us to use.

"What about the bathroom?" Nico asked nervously. We both looked around the barn for a toilet of sorts. When the god pointed at a bucket, I felt all hope disintegrate. Although I was used to not having toilets, showers, etc, I did _not_ want to be deprived of hygiene things with Nico stuck in the same building. He seemed to agree because he blushed deeply when I looked at him. I blushed as well.

The two gods gave us smirks and started to close the doors.

"N-No!" I stuttered before the doors were closed completely.

"Oh, you might want to wash off all that blood, milk, and butter." Gála muttered from the other side. "Then get some rest. Tomorrow will be hardest."

Nico and I were left in awkward darkness. Neither one of us wanted to use Gála's advice and bathe. It was just…strange.

"I'll wait on the loft while you…do your thing." Nico muttered with a deep crimson blush. Both of our faces were red as he stumbled up the loft ladder. I glanced at the shower and walked over. There was an old-fashioned faucet, and it took me a while to figure it out. I jumped in with all my clothes on. The water was freezing, but it was clean. It was then that I realized there wasn't anything but straw to dry myself with.

Shivering, I shuffled up the loft stairs and curled up in a ball. I surrounded myself in hay. My clothes were soaked, and I felt the cold seep into my bones. Nico moved to walk down the ladder, but he draped his aviator jacket over my shoulders before blushing and going to the first floor.

Why did he give me his jacket? He should have saved it for himself. Although I was confused, I was grateful and hugged it around me for warmth. Of course, it was a little bit cold considering that it was still covered in milk.

The sound of the shower appeared, and I waited for Nico as the air around me grew colder. Since we were in a cave, it was already colder than outside. That and the fact that we were high up. I had a feeling this would be one of the coldest nights I've ever faced.

Sure enough, in about two hours Nico and I were shivered like mad, and our teeth clattered loudly. At first we had stayed away from the other, but we eventually shoved away the awkwardness and huddled next to each other. Nico's aviator jacket was throw ever both our shoulders, and his arms wrapped around my back to keep me close. Our knees were pulled up to our chests, and I had my face buried in his freezing shirt. Every time we breathed, mist would come out. I'm pretty sure we both were too cold to blush. Although if we would, we probably would.

"S-s-really c-c-cold." Nico muttered under his breath. I nodded, and we scooted a little closer. I couldn't see anything beyond my hand. It was like I was in space. The gods hadn't left us a candle, a lamp, anything for light.

"R-really s-s-sleepy…" I muttered sleepily. My eyes kept drifting downwards, and I had to fight to stay awake. If anything happened, I wanted to be conscious for it.

"Go to s-s-sleep." Nico whispered into my ear. His warm breath tickled my ear, and I felt drowsiness begin to take over.

"N-no…"

"Shhhhhh…s-sleep."

I felt myself relax, and I drifted into sleep.

**Hayden: I can't believe they were locked in a barn! Talk about inhumane.**

**Sonic: A neglected god probably felt very humane.**

**Hayden: Still. That's just cold.**

**Sonic: ...exactly.**

**Hayden: 0-0 No pun intended.**

**Me: You have to admit, that was a pretty good pun though.**

**Hayden: ^**

**Sonic: But, aren't all puns rude because they refer to-**

**Hayden: Yeah, yeah, Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes, put a sock in it.**

**Me: Or a shoe in it.**

**Sonic: -_-**

**Hayden: HAHAHAHA**

**Me: HAHAHAHA**

**Josh: HAHAHAHA**

**Nico: HAHAHA**

**Erin: HAHAHAHA**

**The world: HAHAHAHA**

**Shoes: -_-**


	8. Author's IMPORTANT note

**Hi! Author's note. So I've got an amazing story breakthrough and have decided to pause this fanfic so I can spend my time on the other. If, however, I get enough reviews I'll continue this story. =) I'll start this one back up sooner or later, but it might take a while. Thank you for reading this far, and if you want to continue reading it, review!**


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